Our future bathrooms

Bathrooms are an emerging site for digital media engagement. People have long been listening to music in the shower, but today they’re scanning social media feeds whilst on the toilet, or propping laptops and tablets on toilet seats so that they can continue watching videos while showering.

The bathroom is also a space for contemplation. Sometimes people want to be immersed in a story or be provided with something thought-provoking for the right moment.

The bathroom gives media makers the opportunity to create content for a clearly defined context where people’s concerns and content needs are unique compared with other rooms in the house. The bathroom and toilet are (mostly) private spaces in which people feel relaxed enough to listen, watch or read what they want to without fear of judgement.
It’s also a space where people are multitasking (shaving, showering, makeup, hair), and self-assessing their body and health.

How will media in bathrooms evolve?

We will see the advent of bathrooms designed for media consumption just as living rooms are today. Bathrooms will be embedded with technologies that open up possibilities for new forms of media. Sensors could assess your physical health or detect your body position and line-of-sight so that images and sounds can be seen and heard properly no matter whether you’re sitting on the toilet or shaving. Surfaces such as shower screens and mirrors will become waterproof smart displays that can be interacted with using voice or gesture.

For instance, a smart mirror could be the perfect spot to observe and learn about your physical health. It could detect and displays health data based on your wearable device, or inbuilt mirror sensors. As a trusted and independent source of information, ABC could supplement this data with ‘fit for purpose’ content that helps you interpret that data in a meaningful way.

How will this happen?

Sensors will detect our activity and be able to register what display positions or content are appropriate.

Personal health data can be detected via sensors and wearables and interpreted by a system that might curate content that helps with personal health goals and concerns.

Wireless speaker systems may be built-in or people will continue to BYO portable speaker devices into the bathroom environment. These systems may work in tandem with in-ear headphone/ microphone devices such as hearables.

Key ingredients for bathroom media

Hands-free. Engage me while I multitask: sit on toilet, shave, wash, and do my make-up.

Audible. Provide me with audio that works well in this echoey and noisy space.

Personalised. Media that really knows me. It adapts to what I like and need to know.

Private. Engage me with ‘guilty pleasure’ media in this personal space. I need not worry about others.

Bodily. Help me to interpret physiological data to assist me with my wellbeing and health goals.

Reflective. My time in the shower and bath, or on the toilet is more conducive for thought-provoking media.

Stories from the field that inspired R+D

"On the toilet? Swipe and wipe media!"

There’s no point pretending that people don’t use their phones or tablets whilst sitting on the loo. Interestingly, the people that R+D spoke to were quite open about the topic, even if about 40% were completely horrified by the idea. Due to the toilet-time popularity of one-tap games like Goat Evolution, or endlessly scrollable / swipeable apps like Facebook, Instagram and Tinder, R+D developed a theory that apps that can be interacted with using a single hand make the most sense in this zone. Messaging? Too hygienically risky! So let’s not neglect the toilet as an emerging site for ‘me time’ media.

"I have a boyfriend that makes little remarks when I use my phone at the dinner table. So it’s just easier to check what I need to (on my phone) by making an excuse to go to the bathroom."

Cassie, age 31

The bathroom is a (mostly) private space for media engagement. We can close the door behind us, and read, watch or listen to whatever we want to in this space.

"I will take my phone into my bathroom to listen to music when I’m taking a shower or something. I don’t like it quiet! There must always be something playing when I’m at home alone."

Hisha, age 20

Many participants showed how they would carry their devices with them into bathrooms so they could continue watching a video or listening to music while they shower, bath, shave, do their hair, or put makeup on.

"If I’m in the middle of a [text] conversation after showering, I can just sit in my towel on that step and I can get stuck there! Maybe half an hour has gone by and I don’t even realise. I’m still in my towel, and I’ll be cold."

Maree, age 18

For Maree, her phone is essentially a ‘wearable’; an extension of her body. She carries it around the house constantly, including the bathroom. This wasn’t uncommon behaviour amongst the younger participants. R+D met.

"The bathroom is a sacred space. Not for technology! It’s a time to chill out, and there’s no need to be engaged with anything else. My ex-husband would have loved a smart mirror because he loves technology, but not me!"

Penny, age 46

Despite the fact that the bathroom is an emerging site of media engagement in homes, some people are very resistant.

Concepts and ABC opportunities for future bathroom

In 2021 and beyond, how will media be part of our homelife?

How will connected homes enable the ABC to inform, entertain, engage and delight Australians in new ways?

What is this?

The R+D team created the Future Home Expo (held over 4 days in May 2016 at ABC’s Ultimo site) as a way to start a conversation with ABC staff about how the future home might change the way media makers imagine their work, and excite them about its opportunities. This site documents the research findings and concepts featured in the expo. It includes an overview of some of the relevant technologies that might impact the future home, a summary of our research approach and hypothetical content scenarios to inspire the ABC. Referenced throughout, you’ll find insights from our in-home research and workshops.

R+D is a small team of people charged with supporting the ABC's 5+ year plan. Through creative collaborations with people inside and outside the organisation, R+D's mission is to demonstrate how future media experiences can be realised through emerging technologies, and audience behaviours.